Wednesday, 27 August 2014

The Portuguese also colonized the eastern half of the island of Timor in the 16th. century. In 1975, East Timor declared independence from Portugal, but the island was invaded and annexed by the Indonesian government. East Timor achieved full independence in 2002.

Monday, 25 August 2014

The motto " Gold, Gospel and Glory " had encouraged the Portuguese to find the sea-route to the east when Vasco da Gama finally succeeded to reach Calicut India in 1459 and then established a colony in Goa, India in 1510. Upon hearing the existence of a great port further east named Melacca, the Portuguese sent admiral de Sequeira and his men to obtain trading rights with the Sultanate which finally led to the capture of the kingdom by Alfonso on 24th. August 1511 during the reign of King Manual I of Portugal. The Portuguese managed to rule the colony for almost 130 years by building a strong fortress named "A Famosa " from hostile surrounding regions but at last succumb to the Dutch when they captured it on 14th. January 1641 with the help of the Johore Sultanate.

Portuguese Mozambique was made up of several provinces and within the Portuguese colony settlements were scattered and these outposts by necessity had their own stamps. Mozambique Company ( 1892 ), Nyassa Company ( 1898 ), Lourenca Marques ( 1895 ), Inhambane ( 1895 ), Zambezia ( 1894 ), Quelimane ( 1913 ) and Tete ( 1913 ). Eventually the stamps of Mozambique were used exclusively throughout the provinces.

Sunday, 24 August 2014

In the 1500's , the Portuguese famous as the first western naval power to have reached the east and their subsequent colonization of the western region of India known as Goa, an important spice-trading port at that time. In 1961, India annexed Goa from the Portuguese and became an Indian State. The stamps shown here were printed for use in all regions of India under the Portuguese administration.